Order of the Eternal Eye
“We follow His laws. We Question so that we Know, Knowing helps us Fight, to Fight we must Create, and then… we Feast.” – Inquisitor Jasper Catherwood, Chosen of Booth. There are Inquisitors, and then there are Inquisitors. Inquisitors of the Eye are shrouded in mystery. They answer to no authority in the Empire, save the Emperor (or the Cardinal Whisper, if he speaks with the Emperor’s Will). None study the Emperor and his incarnations more religiously than they. The Order was created to protect the Empire from the hidden treacheries of the Multi-Verse, be they sleeper agents of the Dull, heretics in our midst, or the unending infestation of vampires and pirates. These inquisitors are seen as over-paranoid annoyances at best, and boogeymen that kidnap you in the dead of night at worst. Their realm-scouring is relentless; they also study the Empire’s histories. It is because of them the Sanctus’s Scriptoriums are so full of dark secrets. History According to the Order’s elders, long before the Church was founded, there were five Scholars went out to find the Emperor. They wanted to learn from him personally and ask him for boons. They searched and searched to find him, but to no avail. All hope seemed lost, until the fourth suggested that to find the Emperor they must split up, as He did in the beginning. So, they all chose one of the Five and started their search again. One by one they found Him and impressed by their efforts he offered his boons, though, after one final trial. Each must gaze into his left eye, and if they survive (because doing so is staring into the rift of the time and space itself) tell him what the Red spoke to them. Each survived, barely, and each heard a voice. The First was told to Question Everything, and saw the number 1, for there is only one. The Second was commanded to Keep up the Fight and saw two mighty pillars. The Third was told to know because They ''knew, so must he Know, and he saw a great star turn dark. The Fourth heard two words over all the chaos: Imagine. Create. He saw galaxies form into a perfect square. The Fifth heard roaring, and hungered for everything. He set out to Feast and tore Five marks into his flesh. Of these came the Laws of the Order and the Holy Sigils of the Five Emperors. Born of it was the final ritual every Inquisitor of the Eternal Eye must undergo. For those who survive: great power is granted them, just as it was granted to the First Five, the First Saints. Rituals and Powers The road of an apprentice is a long one, indeed. First, the candidate is trained in the duties of an average Inquisitor by a sponsor in the Order. Taking on an apprentice is a sacred responsibility amongst the Order, though not every veteran takes up the burden. After basic training, the apprentice will then choose one of the Five to be their patron Emperor. This is an intimate experience for the apprentice, more so if that Emperor is present, and even more depending on ''which Emperor they have chosen. Once they have chosen a Sigil, they are sent off on their own for the Pilgrimage. They must go throughout the Multi-Verse and travel, as the First Saints did before them. They must find each of the Five and pass their trials. Many do not complete the path, either abandoning the Pilgrimage or perishing in the process. The end rite of initiation is begun when the apprentice returns to their chosen Emperor, and gazes into His left eye, as the Saints did. If the apprentice is not killed, and their mind unbroken after 31 seconds, they are granted the boons passed down from the beginning, and blessed with the mark of the Eternal Eye, a burning scar over their left eye. The boons gained are unique to each Inquisitor, but follow some similar qualities. First, the Inquisitor’s aging is slowed: some members of the Order are millennia old; though many in the Order with spreading scars believe the Red eventually consumes their life force. Second, the mark gained connects them to the Emperor and the Red. With it, they gain the ability to manipulate the Red that flows in them, creating constructs out of thin air to use at will. This is a very draining power, but once honed, can be a powerful weapon against the worst sinners of the Empire. Key members in the Order -Inquisitor Raziel, Disciple of Tobias -Inquisitor Veritas , Disciple of Booth -Inquisitor Mithras, Disciple of Booth -Inquisitor Moon, Disciple of Rookfinger -Inquisitor Jasper Catherwood, Disciple of Booth -Inquisitor Ares, Disciple of Peanut -Inquisitor Cross, Disciple of Beast -Inquisitor Atticus Quinn, Disciple of Rookfinger -Inquisitor Apollyon, Disciple of Beast